A suspect recently admitted to crucifying a pastor in Arizona and planning to “execute” a total of 14 religious leaders.
According to Fox 10, 51-year-old Adam Sheafe was arrested on June 24 after William “Bill” Schonemann, a 76-year-old pastor at New River Bible Chapel, was found dead in his home in New River, Arizona, on April 28. The outlet noted that while the 51-year-old suspect has not yet been charged with murdering Schonemann, the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office is currently working on charging him.
In an interview with 12 News, Sheafe claimed that Schonemann was the first of 14 Christian leaders in 10 different states that he intended to “execute” and “crucify.”
Sheafe confirmed that all of the allegations against him “are correct” and explained that the murder of Schonemann was motivated by his religious beliefs. The suspect described his plan as “Operation First Commandment” and claimed that the Bible’s New Testament teachings about Jesus Christ go against the biblical commandment that says, “You shall have no other gods before me.”
Sheafe stated, “His commandments have been annulled by this character called Jesus, a human being who I believe is the son of Satan.”
READ MORE: 70 Christians beheaded by terrorists in ‘massacre’: Report
In his interview, Sheafe claimed that he was on a crusade for God and denied being mentally ill. “No, maybe I’m the one that sees truth, and maybe it’s everybody else that is deceived by Satan,” Sheafe said. “So if that makes me mentally ill for following what God says, then so be it.”
Sheafe admitted that he traveled to Arizona, stole a vehicle, found Schonemann, and stalked the pastor outside his church.
“I saw that he had a Wednesday evening Bible study, so I sat there and waited for them to arrive, so that I could locate which one was the priest, and then I just followed him,” Sheafe stated. “And then I returned on Sunday to execute and crucify him to this wall.”
Sheafe also admitted that he traveled to Sedona and intended to kill two priests who served at the Chapel of the Holy Cross before he was arrested by Sedona Police Department officials.
“I set up a tent right next to that church so that I could watch those priests and identify what vehicles they were driving. And then I got into a high-speed chase with the police and escaped, got in a car crash, got out, ran up a mountain and escaped,” Sheafe said. “And I was just determined to get those two priests.”
According to Fox 10, Sheafe said he would “absolutely not” apologize for his actions. Asked why he targeted Schonemann, the suspect said, “Because he was first up. I was going to start in Phoenix and end in Phoenix, and circle the nation. 10 cities, 14 pastors, 10 states.”
A picture of Sheafe has been shared on X, formerly Twitter.
